JP2001278014A - Car washing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To properly hold a contact state of an upper surface washing brush and an automobile body, to equalize washing force, and to prevent a rotating brush from appearing crushed. SOLUTION: This car washing machine is provided with a pair of brush arms provided on a car washing machine main body so as to be oscillated and an upper surface washing brush rotatably held on the brush arms, the upper surface washing brush is brought into contact with a vehicle body with the relative movement of the car washing machine main body and the vehicle body, the brush arms are oscillated, and the upper surface of the vehicle body is washed with the brush. The car washing machine is further provided with a means for detecting the vehicle shape of the automobile body, a contact pressure control means for controlling contact pressure of the upper surface washing brush to the vehicle body by increasing or decreasing energizing force generated with the oscillation of the brush arms, and a control means for controlling the contact pressure of the upper surface washing brush to the automobile body on the basis of the vehicle shape detected by the vehicle shape detecting means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a car wash processing apparatus for performing a car wash operation on an automobile in a car wash machine body formed in a gate shape, and the car wash is performed in accordance with the relative movement between the car wash machine body and the automobile. Car wash machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a car washing machine in which an upper surface cleaning brush is supported on a brush arm which is swingably held by a car washing machine main body, the brush is pressed in a state where the upper surface cleaning brush is pressed against a vehicle body surface by its own weight. It moves up and down along the vehicle body surface to clean the upper surface of the vehicle body.

[0003]

In such a car washer, since the upper surface cleaning brush is pressed against the vehicle body by the rotation moment due to the weight of the upper surface cleaning brush, the rotation moment due to the weight of the upper surface cleaning brush changes due to the inclination of the brush arm. Then, the contact pressure fluctuates. For example, when the height of the vehicle is low and the top cleaning brush is below, as in the hood portion, the rotational moment is small. Therefore, the contact pressure between the top cleaning brush and the vehicle body is small, and the vehicle height is high like the roof. When the top cleaning brush is nearly horizontal, the rotational moment increases,
The contact pressure between the upper surface cleaning brush and the vehicle body increases.

Further, for example, when the relative movement direction of the car washer body and the vehicle is from the front end to the rear end of the vehicle, the vehicle body pushes up the upper surface cleaning brush at the rising portion of the hood or the windshield portion of the vehicle. Since the top washing brush moves upward and the car wash machine body and the car move relative to each other, the contact pressure between the top washing brush and the car body increases, and the top washing brush moves from the roof of the car to the rear glass and trunk. When the car washer body and the vehicle move relative to each other while moving downward along the part, the upper surface cleaning brush tends to float, and the contact pressure between the upper surface cleaning brush and the vehicle body becomes weaker.

[0005] As described above, when the contact pressure between the upper surface cleaning brush and the automobile body fluctuates, the cleaning power of the upper surface cleaning brush becomes non-uniform, which causes uneven cleaning. Further, when the contact pressure between the upper surface cleaning brush and the vehicle body is large, the upper surface cleaning brush is pressed against the vehicle body, and the rotating brush is in a crushed shape, resulting in poor appearance.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve such a problem, the present invention provides a pair of brush arms swingably provided on a car wash machine body formed in a gate shape, and a brush arm having a pair of brush arms. An upper surface cleaning brush that is rotatably held and brushes in contact with the upper surface of the vehicle body, and with the relative movement between the car washer body and the vehicle body, the upper surface cleaning brush contacts the vehicle body to cause the brush arm to move. In the car washer that oscillates and brushes the upper surface of the vehicle body, when the car body and the vehicle body move relative to each other in the first car washing process, the vehicle body is moved ahead of the upper surface cleaning brush. A vehicle shape detecting means provided to detect the vehicle shape of the vehicle at a position where the upper surface cleaning brush is automatically adjusted by adjusting a biasing force accompanying the swing of the brush arm. A contact pressure control means for controlling the contact pressure to the vehicle body, based on the vehicle type detected by the wheel shape detecting means, a control means for controlling the contact pressure against the car body of the upper surface washing brush.

The present invention also provides a car washing machine according to the present invention, wherein the contact pressure control means includes an air cylinder for operating the brush arm so as to bring the upper surface cleaning brush into contact with an automobile body, and an air pressure supplied to the air cylinder. With an electro-pneumatic regulator to change the

With this configuration, before the brushing by the upper surface cleaning brush is performed, the vehicle shape is detected in advance by the vehicle shape detecting means, and the rotation of the upper surface cleaning brush that moves up and down along the upper surface of the vehicle body. The moment is predicted, and the contact pressure between the upper surface cleaning brush and the vehicle body is controlled accordingly, so that the contact pressure between the upper surface cleaning brush and the vehicle body can be appropriately maintained.

Further, based on the shape of the automobile detected in advance,
Detects upwardly inclined parts such as the bonnet tip and windshield and downwardly inclined parts such as rear glass. If the contact pressure between the brush and the car body is reduced, and the car wash body and the car body move relative to each other while the top washing brush moves down, the contact pressure between the top washing brush and the car body is increased. Accordingly, the contact pressure between the upper surface cleaning brush and the vehicle body can be controlled to obtain a uniform cleaning power.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view of an embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a front view of the embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1
Is a main body of a car wash machine formed in a gate shape, and reciprocates along rails 3 and 3 by rotating wheels 2 and 2 by electric motors 4 and 4 capable of normal rotation and reverse rotation.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a rotary encoder for detecting the traveling position of the car washer, which is connected to the output shaft of the electric motor 4 and outputs a pulse signal at every unit angle rotation while detecting the rotation direction of the electric motor 4, and the main body 1 of the car washer. The traveling position is given.

6 is a position sensor for detecting the position of the car washer.
Thus, switching is performed by detecting the dog 7 which is a projection provided on the lower part of the car wash machine main body 1 and fixed to the laying surface of the rail 3 to give the position of the car wash machine main body 1. The dog 7 provides a running start position of the car washer body.

8 is an upper surface cleaning brush which moves up and down along the upper surface of the vehicle body, 9 and 9 are side cleaning brushes which open and close along the side surface of the vehicle body, 10, 11 and 11 are water spray nozzles, 12 is an upper surface drying nozzle, and 13 and 13 are A side-washing nozzle constitutes a car-washing processing device that performs processing such as washing and drying of a vehicle body as the car-washing machine body 1 reciprocates.

The light emitter group 14 and the light receiver group 15 are beam sensors as vehicle body detecting means.
It is arranged in a large number in the vertical direction and in a pair on the left and right, and is used for detecting the shape of the automobile. The light emitter group 14 is sequentially controlled to be turned on and off one by one, and emits light toward the light receiver group 15 in the horizontal direction. When the light emitted from the light emitter of the light emitter group 14 is blocked by the vehicle body, the corresponding light receiver of the light receiver group 15 does not receive light, and when not blocked by the vehicle body, light is received. It is possible to detect the presence or absence of the vehicle body.

The beam sensor, which is a vehicle body detecting means, is provided on the side that reaches the vehicle body earlier than the upper surface cleaning brush 8 with the relative movement between the car washer body and the vehicle body in the first car washing process. In the car washing process, first, the vehicle shape is detected using the vehicle body detecting means, and the upper surface cleaning brush 8 can be controlled based on the detected vehicle shape.

Reference numeral 16 denotes an operation panel provided on the front of the car washing machine main body 1, which receives a car washing fee, selects a car washing course, specifies a car washing method such as presence or absence of protrusions, sets a car washing fee and a car washing course, and functions of the car washing machine. Car wash machine operation such as various settings related to.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the upper surface cleaning brush. The upper surface cleaning brush 8 includes brush arms 18, 1
8 are supported on both ends by brush arms 18, 1
It moves up and down according to the rotation of 8. Brush arm 18, 18
The shafts 19, 19 provided integrally with the gate frame 1
Are supported by bearings 20, 20 fixed on both inner sides of the rim. An air cylinder 21 is connected to one of the support shafts 19, and the upper surface cleaning brush 8 rises with the operation of the air cylinder 21. When the operation of the air cylinder 21 is released,
The upper surface cleaning brush 8 descends due to the balance of gravity, and when it comes into contact with the vehicle body in this state, the brush arms 18, 18
Rotates upward, and the upper surface cleaning brush 8 moves so as to trace the upper surface of the vehicle body. Reference numeral 17 denotes a rotary encoder that detects the rotation position of the upper surface cleaning brush 8, is connected to the support shaft 19, and outputs a pulse signal every unit angle rotation while detecting the rotation direction of the support shaft 19, and 18 and 18, that is, the turning position of the upper surface cleaning brush 8.

On one brush arm 18, a forward / reverse rotatable electric motor 22 for driving the upper surface cleaning brush 8 is attached to the side supporting the upper surface cleaning brush 8 and the side opposite to the support shaft 19. . Although not shown, the brush arm 18 includes an upper surface cleaning brush 8 and an electric motor 22.
And a chain that extends over both sprockets. A weight 23 is also attached to the other brush arm 18 on the side opposite to the side supporting the upper surface cleaning brush 8 to reduce the rotational load of the upper surface cleaning brush 8.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a pneumatic system for controlling the elevation of the upper surface cleaning brush. An air pressure source 24 supplies air at a predetermined pressure from a compressor or the like. An electropneumatic regulator 25 changes the pressure of the air supplied from the pneumatic source according to the input voltage. 26 is a regulator,
Keep the air from the pneumatic source at a constant pressure. 27 is a three-port directional control valve for controlling the supply of air to the port A of the air cylinder 21. A speed controller 28 controls the speed of the air cylinder 21.

When the three-port directional control valve 27 is directly opened to the pneumatic source, the rod of the air cylinder 21 projects, and the upper surface cleaning brush 8 rises. When the three-port directional control valve 27 is opened to the air pressure source via the electropneumatic regulator 25, the upper surface cleaning brush 8 descends by its own weight while controlling the descending force by the air pressure controlled by the electropneumatic regulator 25. . The electropneumatic regulator 25 is controlled by a microcomputer described later.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a control system of the embodiment. A microcomputer 40 includes a CPU 41 for performing arithmetic processing, a memory 42 for storing programs and various data, and input / output interfaces 43, 43. The input / output interfaces 43, 43 include a rotary encoder 5 for detecting a traveling position, a position Sensor 6,
Side cleaning brushes 9, 9, watering nozzles 10, 11, 11,
The upper surface drying nozzle 12, the side surface drying nozzles 13, 13, the operation panel 16, the upper surface cleaning brush rotation position detecting rotary encoder 17, and the three-port directional control valve 27 are connected.

An inverter 45 controls the number of revolutions of the motors 4 and 4 for driving the car washer.
3, the frequency of the power supplied to the motors 4 and 4 is changed to change the number of revolutions of the motors 4 and 4, and the running speed of the car washer is appropriately changed. An inverter 47 controls the rotation speed of the motor 22 for rotating the upper surface cleaning brush.
The frequency of the power supply, which is connected to the input / output interface 43 and is supplied to the motor 22 for rotating the upper surface cleaning brush, is changed to change the number of rotations of the motor 22 and the number of rotations of the upper surface cleaning brush as appropriate.

Reference numeral 46 denotes a digital / analog converter, which is connected to the input / output interface 43, converts a digital signal output from the microcomputer 40 into an analog signal, and supplies the analog signal to the electropneumatic regulator 25. The supplied air pressure is controlled to adjust the pressure at which the upper surface cleaning brush 8 descends.

Reference numeral 44 denotes an image processing unit which detects the state of detection and non-detection of light emitted from each of the light emitters constituting the light emitter group 14 and received by the light receiver group 15 of the vehicle shape detection beam sensor. The data is stored in association with the input of the traveling position detection rotary encoder 5 to create image data and perform image processing.

The microcomputer 40 comprises a vehicle shape detecting means comprising a vehicle shape detecting light emitter group 14, a light receiving device group 15, a traveling position detecting rotary encoder 5, an image processing section 44 and the like, and an air for operating the brush arm 18. Cylinder 2
1, a contact pressure control means for controlling the contact pressure of the upper surface cleaning brush with respect to the vehicle body by adjusting the urging force accompanying the swing of the brush arm 18 by the interaction of the electropneumatic regulator 25 for changing the air pressure of the air cylinder 21; Constitute.

Next, an operation for detecting a vehicle shape according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6, 7, and 8. FIG. As shown in FIG. 6A, when the car washer body 1 is at the car wash start position, the car A stops at a predetermined stop position. When the car wash is started, the car wash machine sequentially turns on and off the light emitters of the light emitter group 14 and detects the presence or absence of light reception by the light receiver group 15 to detect the automobile A body. When the car washer body 1 reaches the position shown in FIG. 6B, among the light emitters of the light emitter group 14, the light of the light emitter below La is blocked by the body of the automobile A, and is not received by the light receiver group 15. . The presence or absence of light reception from the light emitter in the light receiver group 15 is stored in the image processing unit 44 as the detection state of the vehicle body at this position. When the car wash is continued and the car washer body 1 reaches the position shown in FIG. 6C, the light of the light emitters below Lb among the light emitters of the light emitter group 14 is:
The light is blocked by the body of the automobile A and is not received by the light receiver group 15. The presence or absence of light reception from the light emitter in the light receiver group 15 is also stored in the image processing unit 44 as the detection state of the vehicle body at this position. In this way, whether or not the light from the projector group 14 is blocked by the vehicle as the car wash machine body 1 travels is sequentially stored in the image processing unit 44, and the body of the vehicle is detected as binary image data. .

By such a method, vehicle body image data as shown in FIG. 7A is detected. As shown in FIG. 8 (a), the detected vehicle body image data is displayed on a screen composed of pixels in which the horizontal axis is divided for each unit distance and the vertical axis is divided into LED units arranged in the vertical direction. This is represented as image data composed of binary data of 0 when light emitted from the camera is projected and 1 when light is blocked. By analyzing this image data in the image processing unit 44,
The shape of the vehicle body is detected.

The contour of the vehicle body is detected by applying a logical filter to the image data, thereby detecting reference points such as the front position and the boundary between the hood and the windshield. Applying a logical filter to image data is performed by detecting a pattern of nine pixels, which is a set of a pixel to be detected and eight pixels adjacent thereto, as shown in FIG. 8B. . That is, the pixel to be detected is adjusted to D4, and the adjacent pixels D0, D1, D
This is performed by 8-neighbor processing for detecting whether the pixels 2, 2, D3, D5, D6, D7, and D8 are 0 or 1. The contour image data of the vehicle body is obtained by applying a logical filter to the vehicle body image data and detecting a boundary between a pixel having a pixel value of 1 and a pixel having a pixel value of 0. That is, for the pixel D4 whose pixel value is 1, the pixel D0,
In which direction D1, D2, D3, D5, D6, or D7 the pixels are connected is detected, and a contour line is detected. In this way, the contour is traced to obtain a contour image as shown in FIG. Based on the contour image data, a change ΔH in the height direction during a distance in the vehicle length direction ΔL of the vehicle body is calculated, and the change in the inclination is used to calculate the front position a, the boundary b between the hood portion and the windshield b, Points such as a boundary c between the windshield and the roof, a boundary d between the roof and the rear glass, a boundary e between the rear glass and the trunk, and a rear position f are detected. In the case of a car without a hood, such as a wagon car, the boundary between the bonnet and the windshield cannot be detected. Therefore, the detection of the boundary between the hood and the windshield is abandoned, and the process proceeds to the detection of the boundary between the windshield and the roof.

FIG. 9 shows an example in which the upper surface cleaning brush is controlled based on the detected vehicle shape. As shown in FIG.
The car washer starts to wash the car, sequentially turns on and off the light emitters of the car body detecting light emitter group 14, detects the presence or absence of light reception by the light receiver group 15, detects the car A body, and detects the traveling of the car washer detected by the rotary encoder. The image processing unit 4 converts the presence / absence of the vehicle body into binary image data corresponding to the position.
4 is stored. The image processing unit 44 simultaneously analyzes the contour image data created by applying the logical filter, thereby determining reference points such as a front end face of the vehicle body, a boundary point between the hood and the windshield, and a boundary point between the windshield and the roof. Extract sequentially.

The distance Z between the upper surface cleaning brush 8 and the vehicle body detecting light emitter group 14 and the light receiver group 15 can be calculated based on the design value and the rotational position of the upper surface cleaning brush 8, so that the car washer The upper surface cleaning brush 8 is moved up and down while following the vehicle body surface, and when there is a protrusion such as a carrier in accordance with the shape of the vehicle A body sequentially analyzed by the image processing unit 44, avoidance control of the protrusion portion and the like are performed. I do. In this way, as shown in FIGS. 9B and 9C, the upper surface cleaning brush 8 is controlled while sequentially analyzing the stored vehicle-shaped image data by detecting the vehicle body as the car washer travels. .

Next, the operation of the embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 10, when the upper surface cleaning brush cleans the windshield portion of the automobile, the car washer body and the vehicle body move relative to each other in such a manner as to push up the upper surface cleaning brush 8, so that the upper surface cleaning brush performs the upper surface cleaning. The contact pressure of the brush 8 is reduced so that the contact between the upper surface cleaning brush 8 and the vehicle body of the automobile A does not become too strong. The windshield portion of the automobile is detected in advance by the vehicle shape detection means,
The position of the upper surface cleaning brush 8 is obtained by calculation based on the rotational position of the upper surface cleaning brush detected by the rotary encoder 17 for detecting the rotational position of the upper surface cleaning brush and the design value of the mechanism of the car washer. When the top cleaning brush 8 reaches the windshield, the electropneumatic regulator 2
5, the contact pressure between the upper surface cleaning brush 8 and the car body of the automobile A is reduced, and the contact pressure at the bonnet portion as indicated by the dotted line in FIG. This makes it possible to absorb the strong contact between the upper surface cleaning brush 8 and the vehicle body A on the inclined surface of the windshield portion so that the contact state between the upper surface cleaning brush 8 and the vehicle body A becomes constant. .

As shown in FIG. 11, when the upper surface cleaning brush cleans the rear glass portion of the automobile, the upper surface cleaning brush 8 moves down while the car washer body moves relative to the vehicle body. The contact pressure of the brush 8 is increased to prevent the contact between the upper surface cleaning brush 8 and the vehicle body of the automobile A from becoming too weak. The rear glass portion of the automobile is detected in advance by the vehicle shape detecting means, and the position of the upper surface cleaning brush 8 is determined by the rotation position of the upper surface cleaning brush detected by the rotary encoder 17 for detecting the rotation position of the upper surface cleaning brush. When the top washing brush 8 reaches the rear glass part, the car washing machine adjusts the output of the electropneumatic regulator 25 so that the top washing brush 8 and the vehicle A The contact pressure with the vehicle body is increased, and the contact state on the roof portion as shown by the dotted line in the figure is changed to a state with a large contact pressure as shown by the solid line in the figure. The contact between the upper surface cleaning brush 8 and the vehicle body of the vehicle A is made constant by compensating for the weakening of the contact between the vehicle body and the vehicle body of the vehicle A.

FIG. 12 shows the contact pressure of the upper surface cleaning brush in each part of the automobile. The contact pressure of the top cleaning brush is
For example, the tip of the bonnet has a contact pressure of P1, the bonnet has a contact pressure of P2, the windshield has a contact pressure of P3, and the roof has a contact pressure of P3.
The contact pressure is set at 4, the rear glass portion is set at P5, the trunk portion is set at P6, and the rear end portion of the trunk is set at P7. The contact pressure P1 at the tip portion of the steep hood is smaller than the contact pressure P2 at the gently bonnet portion, and the contact pressure P3 at the upslope front glass portion is the contact pressure at the gently hood portion. Less than P2. Further, the contact pressure P4 of the gradually inclined roof portion is larger than the contact pressure P3 of the windshield portion having the upward slope, but is smaller than the contact pressure P2 of the hood portion where the upper surface cleaning brush is at a lower position. The contact pressure P5 of the rear glass part having a downward slope is higher than the contact pressure P3 of the front glass part having a downward slope. In this way, the contact pressure of the upper surface cleaning brush is controlled according to the detected vehicle shape of the vehicle body, such as a portion where the vehicle body is inclined upward, a portion where the vehicle is inclined downward, a portion where the vehicle height is high, and a portion where the vehicle height is low. Is done.

In the above embodiment, the case where the upper surface cleaning brush moves from the front end to the rear end of the automobile has been described. However, the same applies to the case where the upper surface cleaning brush moves from the rear end to the front end of the automobile. It is. In this case, the rear glass part becomes an upward slope, and the front glass part becomes a downward slope.

As the contact pressure used for controlling the contact state of the brush, a preset design value may be used, or some reference values of the contact pressure corresponding to the vehicle body may be stored in the memory of the car washer. In advance, it may be possible to make appropriate changes by registering settings using the operation panel.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, a brush is pressed against an automobile body by its own weight in a car washer in which an upper surface cleaning brush is supported on a brush arm which is swingably held by a car washer body. When the car washes by moving up and down along the vehicle body surface in the state, the car wash machine detects the vehicle shape in advance using vehicle shape detection means before brushing by the upper surface cleaning brush, and the upper surface cleaning brush is The moment of rotation when moving up and down along the upper surface of the can be predicted,
When the rotational moment is large, the contact pressure between the top cleaning brush and the car body is reduced, and when the rotational moment is small, the contact pressure between the top cleaning brush and the car body is increased. By controlling the pressure, the contact state between the upper surface cleaning brush and the vehicle body can be appropriately maintained.

Further, from the vehicle shape detected in advance,
Detects an upwardly sloping part such as the front end of the bonnet or the windshield, and a downwardly sloping part such as the rear glass, and pushes up the top cleaning brush. The contact pressure between the top washing brush and the car body is reduced when the top washing brush moves down the slope of the car body and the car wash machine body and the car body move relative to each other. By controlling the contact pressure between the upper surface cleaning brush and the car body according to the vehicle shape, such as increasing the pressure,
Uniform detergency can be obtained.

Further, the state of contact between the upper surface cleaning brush, which moves up and down along the vehicle body surface while being pressed against the vehicle body by its own weight, and the vehicle body is kept substantially constant, so that the state of the rotating upper surface cleaning brush is maintained. The brush is kept substantially constant, and the rotating upper surface cleaning brush does not collapse on the roof of the vehicle body or the like having a large rotational moment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of an upper surface cleaning brush according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a control system of the upper surface cleaning brush according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a control system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory diagram of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory diagram of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an operation explanatory diagram of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory diagram of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an operation explanatory diagram of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an operation explanatory diagram of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an operation explanatory diagram of the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Car wash machine main body 4 Car wash machine running electric motor 5 Car wash machine running position detection rotary encoder 8 Upper surface cleaning brush 14 Car shape detecting light emitter group 15 Vehicle shape detecting light receiver group 16 Operation panel 21 Upper surface cleaning brush lifting / lowering air cylinder 22 Top cleaning brush rotation motor 24 Pneumatic source 25 Electropneumatic regulator 26 Regulator 27 3-port directional control valve 40 Microcomputer

Continued on the front page F-term (reference)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A pair of brush arms swingably provided on a gate-shaped car wash machine main body, and an upper surface cleaning rotatably held by the brush arms and contacting and brushing the upper surface of an automobile body. A car washing machine comprising a brush, wherein the upper surface cleaning brush contacts the vehicle body, and the brush arm swings by brushing the upper surface of the vehicle body with the relative movement between the car wash body and the vehicle body.
The car wash machine body is provided so as to detect the shape of the car at a position where the car wash machine body and the car body move relative to each other in the first car wash process and reach the car body before the upper surface washing brush. Vehicle shape detection means, contact pressure control means for controlling the contact pressure of the upper surface cleaning brush with respect to the vehicle body by adjusting the urging force accompanying the swing of the brush arm, and a vehicle detected by the vehicle shape detection means. A car washing machine comprising a control means for controlling a contact pressure of the upper surface cleaning brush with respect to a vehicle body based on a shape. 2. The car washing machine according to claim 1, wherein said contact pressure control means includes an air cylinder for operating said brush arm to bring said upper surface cleaning brush into contact with a vehicle body, and air supplied to said air cylinder. A car washer equipped with an electropneumatic regulator for changing pressure.